Prince Adeyemi Matthew Adeniyi, the embattled Director-General of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, has claimed he personally lobbied officials at Nigeria’s Budget Office to secure the inclusion of the controversial agency in the 2026 Federal Government budget.
Speaking in an interview with social media personality VeryDarkMan (Martins Vincent Otse) after his arrest, Adeniyi alleged that his efforts began in December 2024, when he approached the Budget Office seeking the agency’s inclusion in the 2025 budget. According to him, officials informed him that the budget process had already closed and advised him to pursue the proposal for the 2026 appropriation.
He claimed he maintained contact with Budget Office officials and was introduced to the agency’s Director-General through a female staff member. Adeniyi alleged that the Budget Office chief requested “shini,” a slang term often used to imply a financial inducement, before directing him to another senior official.
According to him, the official later explained that the proposal could not make the 2025 budget but assured him efforts would continue for the 2026 budget.
Adeniyi denied paying bribes to any official, insisting he only promised to offer employment opportunities to people recommended by them once the agency became operational.
He also said his arrest interrupted all discussions with the Budget Office and claimed he was surprised to later discover that the agency had eventually appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act with an allocation of about ₦1.3 billion.
The embattled official further alleged that he paid $400 million equivalent in U.S. dollars through his late associate, Dolapo Tanimola, in connection with securing his purported appointment. However, he maintained that he never met the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, either before or after the appointment, insisting that all dealings were handled by Tanimola.
VeryDarkMan, who shared the interview online, called for a wider investigation into the Budget Office and other government institutions, arguing that Adeniyi should not be the only person investigated if his allegations are substantiated.
However, PUNCH Online noted that Adeniyi’s allegations have not been independently verified, and the officials and institutions mentioned have yet to publicly respond to his claims.
Background
Authorities accuse Adeniyi of operating a fictitious government agency known as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, allegedly using forged government documents and presenting himself as its Director-General from an office within the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
Investigators allege that his appointment letter was forged and falsely linked to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President. He is currently facing charges including forgery and impersonation.
Despite the Presidency repeatedly describing him as an impostor and distancing itself from the organisation, the agency later appeared in the 2026 Federal Budget with an allocation of about ₦1.3 billion, prompting widespread public outrage and calls for a comprehensive investigation into Nigeria’s budget process.
